DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . It is responsive to the submission dated 08/05/2026. Claims 1-20 are presented for examination, of which, claims 1, 14 and 20 are independent claims.
Information Disclosure Statement
2. The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on 08/06/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and are being considered by the Examiner.
Response to Arguments
3. Applicant’s arguments, see pages 14-15 of Applicant’s Remarks, filed 08/06/2026, with respect to the indefiniteness rejections under 35 USC 112(b) and the obviousness rejections under 35 USC 103 of the claims have been fully considered and are persuasive. The amendments to the claims are sufficient to overcome the informalities of the previous claims. As such, the rejections to these claims have been withdrawn.
Claim Numbering
4. The numbering of claims is not in accordance with 37 CFR 1.126 which requires the original numbering of the claims to be preserved throughout the prosecution. When claims are canceled, the remaining claims must not be renumbered. When new claims are presented, they must be numbered consecutively beginning with the number next following the highest numbered claims previously presented (whether entered or not).
Misnumbered claims 1, 7, 12 and 2-20 been renumbered claims 1-20. Thus, at pages 2 and 3 of the claim set filed on 08/05/2026, the applicant is required to delete claims 7 and 12.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
6. Claims 1-4, 6, 13-17 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yao et al. (CN 105806358 A) in view of Reiro et al. (JP JP2016074410 A).
Considering claim 1, Yao discloses: an information display method, performed by an electronic device (e.g., a driving prompt method and which display driving prompt information. See “Summary of the invention” section of Yao), the method comprising:
projecting, through an augmented reality head up display (AR HUD) device on a target vehicle, an information display area on a front windshield of the target vehicle, the information display area comprising at least a virtual prompt element corresponding to a key object (for examples, Yao discloses: driving prompts generally take the form of a navigator or a head-up display. Wherein, the way of the head-up display displays the prompt content on the front windshield of the vehicle, and the displayed content includes the motion information of the vehicle speed and the navigation information of the enlarged intersection map. See “Background” section of Yao), the key object being an object in a driving environment where the target vehicle is located, and a display position of the virtual prompt element corresponding to a position of the key object in the driving environment (e.g., Yao discloses: the driving prompts method comprising: Obtain the first real-time location information of the driver’s eyes; Obtaining second real-time position information of objects in the external environment; Determine the real-time virtual display position of the object at the front windshield according to the first real-time position information and the second real-time position information; A virtual image of the object is generated and displayed on the windshield. Wherein, the step of obtaining the first real-time position information of the driver's eyes includes: Obtain the third real-time location information of the vehicle through the vehicle positioning device; See lines 6-16 of the “Contents of the invention” section in Yao. The detailed descriptions of fig. 3 of Yao also discloses a point at which for displaying the virtual image is centered on a projection point on the front windshield of the vehicle).
In addition, Yao discloses when an action need to be taken by the driver within a preset time, according to a distance from an object or another vehicle, to avoid a collision, a reminder is provided as a prompt on the front windshield of the vehicle, as a virtual image as a center point replacing the displayed projection point, which implies changing a position of the information on the front windshield in response to a change of the key object and the virtual prompt element. See the 2nd to 3rd paragraphs after the detailed descriptions of step S14 under the “detailed description” section and the detailed descriptions of fig. 3 of Yao.
Yao does not expressly describe changing a position of the information display area on the front windshield in response to a change of the key object and the virtual prompt element corresponding to the key object not meeting a target display condition, wherein the virtual prompt element meets the target display condition after changing the position of the information display area, and the change of the key object comprises at least one of: the key object changing from a first key object to a second key object, or the position of the key object changing from a first position to a second position (as supported by the original disclosure at paras. 47-49, which describes “the position of the information display area” as the FOV of the driver or the FOV the AR HUD pays attention to; and “the key object not meeting a target display condition” as information the driver pays attention to either changes or not within the FOV of the driver or the AR HUD device).
Reiro, in a similar art discloses a heads-up display device for vehicles that projects virtual images (e.g., virtual prompt element and key objects) onto a transparent plate-like member (e.g., position of display area) positioned in front of the driver's seat. This device is designed to enhance the driver's situational awareness by superimposing critical information on the real-world view, thus allowing the driver to access important data without losing focus on the road. The display controller adjusts the size of the projected characters or graphics based on their distance from a reference point, which is the center of the driver's visual field (e.g., changing of position of information on display area corresponding to the key object). This adaptive display mechanism ensures that larger, more critical information is presented clearly when it is further away from the reference point, while minimizing the size of less critical information that is closer to the center of vision. See abstract of Reiro.
Specifically, Reiro discloses: a heads-up display device 10 mounted to a vehicle includes a projection unit 11 that projects an image, a concave mirror 12 that reflects the image projected by the projection unit 11 and projects the reflected image onto a windshield (that is, a windshield) 3 and reaches the eyes of the driver. Then, the driver recognizes the projected image as the virtual image 4 positioned in front of the windshield 3 in a state superimposed on the scene in front of the windshield 3. In addition, the vehicle 1 includes a camera 20 that captures images in front of the vehicle 1, a radar 21 that emits radio waves to a predetermined investigation-region set in front of the vehicle 1 and receives the reflected waves to acquire target information, and the like. The camera 20 according to this example is configured to capture an image similar to a scene in front of the windshield 3 from the driver's seat to the front. See paras. 10-12.
The HUD device 10 includes a display controller 13, an object detector 15, an object information acquisition unit 16. The object detector 15 that detects a predetermined object (e.g., a key object) from a front image of the vehicle 1 captured by the camera 20, and the object information acquiring unit 16, which is connected to the radar 21 described above, a communication system 22 that shares information with another vehicle, a navigation system 23 that guides the vehicle 1 to a destination, and the like, and acquires information regarding the object detected by the object detecting unit 15. The display controller 13 selects a character and an icon (i.e., a figure) representing the object information acquired by the object information acquiring unit 16, determines a display position and a size of the character and the icon to be displayed, and instructs the projecting unit 11 to indicate contents thereof. The projection unit 11 projects characters or icons in accordance with contents instructed by the display controller 13 to display a virtual image of the characters or icons in association with the target object in the scene in front. See paras. 13-15.
According to Reiro, When the HUD display control process (S100) is started, first, data of a front image of the vehicle 1 captured by the camera 20 is acquired (S101), and the acquired data is analyzed to determine whether or not a predetermined target object is present in the front image (S102). Examples of the target object detected by the S102 include a leading vehicle traveling in front of the vehicle 1, a vehicle traffic light installed at an intersection of a road on which the vehicle 1 travels, a specific building (for example, a landmark) provided along the road on which the vehicle 1 travels, and the like. The detection of S102 is performed, for example, by using a template of a silhouette of the target object, and the presence or absence of the target object is determined on the basis of whether a silhouette corresponding to any of a plurality of templates prepared in advance is present in the front image. Then, when a plurality of target objects are present in the front image, the target objects are individually detected. In addition, as described above, the front image captured by the camera 20 in this example is similar to the scene in front of the driver's seat, and thus the object visually recognized by the driver is detected from the front image. Then, when an object is present in the front image (S102: yes), a position where the object is visually recognized from the driver's seat in the display region 5 is detected…. Upon detecting the viewing position of the object, object information about the object is subsequently acquired,………. Subsequently, on the basis of the visual recognition position of the target object detected in S103, the display position of the character and the icon is determined in the display region 5 (S106). In the present embodiment, in order to associate the characters and icons with the target object, the characters and icons are displayed at positions adjacent to the target object visually recognized from the driver's seat in either the up-down direction or the left-right direction in the display region 5. In this example, the display dimension is determined based on the display position of the characters or icons, and the correspondence relationship between the display position of the characters or icons and the display dimension is predetermined. See paras. 17-24.
In short, the Reiro reference provides a situation wherein, as the field of view of the driver or the an object in front of the vehicle that the driver pays attention to is obstructed or not within the FOV of the driver, the AR HUD device 10 causes the information or object the driver pays attention to change from its position on the display area on the front windshield of the vehicle, in response to detecting the visual recognition position of the target object.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the Yao reference to include changing a position of the information display area on the front windshield in response to a change of the key object and the virtual prompt element corresponding to the key object not meeting a target display condition, wherein the virtual prompt element meets the target display condition after changing the position of the information display area, and the change of the key object comprises at least one of: the key object changing from a first key object to a second key object, or the position of the key object changing from a first position to a second position, in the same conventional manner as disclosed in Reiro; in order to cause the vehicle head-up display to automatically enable the driver off the vehicle to correctly grasp presented information using an HUD device without impeding visual recognition of a scene in front. See para. 6 of Reiro.
As per claim 2, Reiro, as modified by Yao, discloses the key object changing from the first key object to the second key object (e.g., upon the display position and size of a detected target object has changed. See paras. 15-16 of Reiro); and
the virtual prompt element corresponding to the key object not meeting the target display condition comprises: the virtual prompt element corresponding to the second key object in the information display area not meeting a first target display condition (e.g., when the visual information of the target object detected obstruct the view of the driver including the scene image projected on the windshield. See paras. 10-12 of Reiro). See the rejections of claim 1 above for reason of obviousness.
As per claim 3, the additional feature of claim 3 could have been easily derived by a person skilled in the art from the feature of Reiro, considering that Reiro discloses a lower display region 5 D, a upper display region 5 U and a left display region 5 L are provided as the display region 5 in accordance with the HUD display control process. See para. 29. Since the leading vehicle A is closer to the vehicle 1 than the leading vehicle B, the leading vehicle A is visually recognized at a position away from the vanishing point P (see Fig.3), and the visual recognition position of the leading vehicle A in the lower display region 5 D is lower than the visual recognition position of the leading vehicle B. Corresponding to this, the characters representing the distance (hereinafter, referred to as "information A)" (here, 50 m) of the leading vehicle A are displayed at positions below the distance. See para. 31. Reiro further provides a building E in a position closer to the vehicle 1 than a building F is viewed at a position away from the vanishing point P (see Fig.3), and the viewing position of the building E in the left display area 5 L is to the left of the viewing position of the building F. Correspondingly, the icon representing the information E about the building E (here, the combini) is displayed to the left in the left display area 5 L than the icon representing the information F about the building F (here, the GS), and is far from the vanishing point P as the reference point to the display position. Thus, in accordance with the correspondence relationship in Fig.5, the icon display dimension of the information E is larger than that of the information F. This makes it possible for the driver to easily recognize that the information E (combini) corresponds to the building E and that the information F (GS) corresponds to the building F. As described above, in the HUD device 10 of the present example, with the vanishing point P in front of the driver's seat as a reference point, the display position of the characters and icons is close to the vanishing point P (that is, the display position in the lower display region 5 D is upward; The display dimensions of the characters and icons are reduced as the display position in the upper display region 5 U becomes lower or the display position in the left display region 5 L becomes right). As a result, large characters or icons are not displayed at positions close to the vanishing point P, and thus, it is possible to avoid difficulty in visually recognizing a scene in front when displaying characters or icons for a driver who is driving a line of sight toward the vanishing point P. See paras. 35-36, wherein the object recognized by the driver to be facing the vanishing point P in front of the driver's seat as a reference point corresponds to the target overground object; and the object recognized by the driver to be close to the vanishing point P corresponds to the target overground object. And, by exchanging the lower display position with the higher display position for easy recognition by the driver, the target ground object can be moved in the upward viewing position and the target overground object can be made being lower than a position of the target overground object. As such, the Reiro reference obviously encompasses moving the position of the information display area on the front windshield upward when the first key object is a target ground object and the second key object is a target overground object, a position of the target ground object being lower than a position of the target overground object; and moving the position of the information display area on the front windshield downward when the first key object is the target overground object and the second key object is the target ground object.
As per claim 4, considering that Reiro discloses that visual recognition of target objects can be detected to be on the left display region 5 L positioned to the left of the vanishing point P are provided with the vanishing point P being the center of the visual field facing the front from the driver's seat as a reference point; and on the right display region 5 L positioned to the right of the vanishing point P are provided with the vanishing point P being the center of the visual field facing the front from the driver's seat as a reference point and that the display position of the detected objects can be adjusted accordingly not to obscure the field of view of the driver (see paras. 16-23), the Reiro reference obviously encompasses moving the position of the information display area on the front windshield rightward when the first key object is a target object on a left side of a line of sight and the second key object is a target object on a right side of the line of sight; and moving the position of the information display area on the front windshield leftward when the first key object is the target object on the right side of the line of sight and the second key object is the target object on the left side of the line of sight.
As per claim 6, Reiro discloses the position of the key object in the driving environment changing from a first position to a second position; and the virtual prompt element corresponding to the key object not meeting the target display condition comprises: the virtual prompt element corresponding to the key object in the information display area not meeting a second target display condition when the key object is in the second position. See abstract and paras. 13-15 of Reiro.
As per claim 13, Yao discloses determining a target imaging position of the virtual prompt element corresponding to the key object on [the imaging plane based on a position of an eyebox of the AR HUD device] in the vehicle coordinate system of the target vehicle and the position of the key object in the driving environment, the imaging plane being a virtual image imaging plane generated through the projection of the AR HUD device; and determining a target imaging area corresponding to the information display area on the imaging plane based on the target imaging position, the target imaging area covering the target imaging position, and a position of the target imaging area on the imaging plane determining the position of the information display area on the front windshield (for examples, Yao discloses: driving prompts generally take the form of a navigator or a head-up display. Wherein, the way of the head-up display displays the prompt content on the front windshield of the vehicle, and the displayed content includes the motion information of the vehicle speed and the navigation information of the enlarged intersection map. See “Background” section of Yao. In addition, Yao discloses: the driving prompts method comprising: acquiring first real-time positional information from the eyes of a vehicle driver; acquiring second real-time positional information of an object in an external environment; determining real-time virtual display position of the object in a front windshield according to the first real-time positional information and the second real-time positional information; and generating and displaying the virtual image of the object on the front windshield; See the “Abstract” section of Yao. The detailed descriptions of fig. 3 of Yao also discloses a point at which for displaying the virtual image is centered on a projection point on the front windshield of the vehicle).
Yao, however, fails to particularly teach, but Reiro discloses: determining a target imaging position of the virtual prompt element corresponding to the key object on the imaging plane based on a position of an eyebox of the AR HUD device in the vehicle coordinate system of the target vehicle (e.g., the heads-up display device for the vehicle is designed to enhance the driver's situational awareness by superimposing critical information on the real-world view, thus allowing the driver to access important data without losing focus on the road. The display controller adjusts the size of the projected characters or graphics based on their distance from a reference point, which is the center of the driver's visual field. See abstract. In addition, Reiro discloses: The image projected onto the windshield 3 from the HUD device 10 is reflected by the windshield 3 and reaches the eyes of the driver. Then, the driver recognizes the projected image as the virtual image 4 positioned in front of the windshield 3 in a state superimposed on the scene in front of the windshield 3. See para. 11 of Reiro). See also paras. 23-24 of Reiro.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the Yao reference to include determining a target imaging position of the virtual prompt element corresponding to the key object on the imaging plane based on a position of an eyebox of the AR HUD device in the vehicle coordinate system of the target vehicle, in the same conventional manner as taught by Reiro; in order to provide a vehicle head-up display device that makes it possible to avoid a situation in which the visual recognition of the scene in front from the driver's seat is obstructed by the display dimension being too large. See para. 26 of Reiro.
The subject-matter of independent claims 14 and 20 correspond in terms of an apparatus and a non-transitory computer-readable medium to that of independent method claim 1, and the rationale raised above to reject the later also apply, mutatis mutandis, to the former. In addition, considering that in Reiro the vehicle head-up display is provided with an information processing center that is used for selecting the best projection position within the sight of the driver or on the periphery of the sight on a front vehicle windshield without hindering the driver from observing the road condition according to the sight position of the driver and the pick-up information of the vehicle sensor, and according to certain pre-defined conditions (see paras. 17-26), Reiro, therefore, discloses information display apparatus comprising a processor and a memory configured to store a computer program to be executed by the processor to project an information display area on a front windshield of a target vehicle through an augmented reality head up display (AR HUD) device on the target vehicle, as claimed.
Claim 15 is rejected under the same rationale as claim 2.
Claim 16 is rejected under the same rationale as claim 3.
Claim 17 is rejected under the same rationale as claim 4.
Claim 19 is rejected under the same rationale as claim 6.
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claims 5, 7-12 and 18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims, after correcting the indefiniteness issues raised above, because the prior art of record fail to teach the method according to claim 2, wherein the changing the position of the information display area on the front windshield comprises: determining a first imaging position of a virtual prompt element corresponding to the first key object on an imaging plane, and determining a second imaging position of the virtual prompt element corresponding to the second key object on the imaging plane, the imaging plane being a virtual image imaging plane generated through the projection of the AR HUD device; and changing the position of the information display area on the front windshield by moving a target imaging area corresponding to the information display area on the imaging plane based on the first imaging position and the second imaging position, so that the virtual prompt element corresponding to the second key object in the target imaging area meets the first target display condition (as recited in claims 5 and 18); the method according to claim 6, wherein the changing a position of the information display area on the front windshield comprises: determining a third imaging position of the virtual prompt element corresponding to the key object on the imaging plane when the key object is in the first position, and determining a fourth imaging position of the virtual prompt element corresponding to the key object on the imaging plane when the key object is in the second position, the imaging plane being a virtual image imaging plane generated through the projection of the AR HUD device; and changing the position of the information display area on the front windshield by moving a target imaging area corresponding to the information display area on the imaging plane based on the third imaging position and the fourth imaging position, so that the virtual prompt element corresponding to the key object in the target imaging area meets the second target display condition when the key object is in the second position (as recited in claim 7); the method according to claim 1, further comprising: displaying, in the information display area when the driving environment comprises a plurality of basic key objects and a virtual prompt element corresponding to each of the plurality of basic key objects in the information display area does not meet a third target display condition, a virtual prompt element corresponding to a primary key object among the plurality of basic key objects, and displaying prompt content corresponding to a secondary key object among the plurality of basic key objects (as recited in claim 8); and wherein the key object is determined by: obtaining a reference image captured by a front camera on the target vehicle; detecting candidate key objects comprised in the reference image through an image detection model; and determining the key object based on the candidate key objects and a key object determining rule (as recited in claim 10).
Conclusion
8. Applicant's submission of an information disclosure statement under 37 CFR 1.97(c) with the timing fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(p) on 8/6/26, and the amendments to the claims prompted the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 609.04(b). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WESNER SAJOUS whose telephone number is (571) 272-7791. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 10:00 TO 7:30 (ET).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Said Broome can be reached on 571-272-2931. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WESNER SAJOUS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2612
WS
08/26/2026
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